Aurat March Karachi postponed amid escalating tensions

KARACHI: Following an escalation of hostilities between Pakistan and India, Aurat March Karachi has announced it is postponing this year’s March due to heightened security concerns and threats to marginalised communities.

In a statement on it’s official Instagram page, the organisers said the decision was made “after much deliberation”, and noted how difficult the decision was, given the months of voluntary labour that goes into getting ready for the annual mobilisation of women, trans, and non–binary, especially those from working–class neighbourhoods.

“We understand what the march means to our communities and what the march represents as a space — one of the few spaces where women, trans, and non-binary can claim public space and speak truth to power and hold power to account,” said the organisers.

However, Aurat March Organisers noted that aspects of our current war-like situation mean that we are at an increased risk of violence, increased state surveillance, and restricted movement, which puts further barriers on already vulnerable people and groups.

“We are postponing the Aurat March and not cancelling — because our fight continues!” the statement emphasised, reaffirming many of the march’s urgent demands, including social security, reproductive healthcare, housing, labour rights, recognition of unpaid work, and freedom from violence. “These are not secondary to national issues — these are national issues“.

The Aurat March also made a direct appeal to the state to follow a diplomatic path to peace, and highlighted the misallocation of resources away from military build-up toward essential public services.

“Every war budget is instead a choice not to invest in hospitals, schools, ration programmes, and clean water.“ “The costs of war are born not by those who wage it, but by those who already exist in scarcity.“